{"id":1270423,"date":"2022-02-04T09:08:18","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T14:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1270423"},"modified":"2022-02-04T09:08:25","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T14:08:25","slug":"ukrainian-complaints-show-definition-of-imminent-had-nothing-to-do-with-joe-biden-debacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukrainian-complaints-show-definition-of-imminent-had-nothing-to-do-with-joe-biden-debacle\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian Complaints Show Definition of &#039;Imminent&#039; Had Nothing to Do with Joe Biden Debacle"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fukrainian-complaints-show-definition-of-imminent-had-nothing-to-do-with-joe-biden-debacle%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1270423&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The White House and Pentagon made spirited attempts on Wednesday to blame ongoing tensions between America and Ukraine \u2013 triggered by repeated, panicked assertions in Washington that Russia would soon invade the country again \u2013 on the definition of one word: \u201cimminent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The government of Russian leader Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014, colonizing the Crimea region and enabling pro-Russia separatists in a full-fledged war against Kyiv in eastern Donbas. While Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine is eight years old, President Joe Biden prompted global alarm in January by telling reporters that he believed Putin would soon engage in a full-fledged invasion of the country. Biden also suggested that the United States would not aid Ukraine in the event of a \u201cminor incursion,\u201d outraging many who considered his statement an invitation to Putin to seize Ukrainian land.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Citing the likelihood of an imminent invasion, Biden\u2019s administration also ordered the families of Americans working at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv to leave, and recommended all Americans in the country flee immediately. The White House and State Department spent two weeks emphasizing that they believed that a Russian attack would happen sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, loudly protested that they had no reason to believe that a further Russian invasion was imminent and said the sudden panic surrounding Ukraine after nearly a decade of occupation was, at best, bizarre. Zelensky blamed Biden-fueled media hysteria in the West for the country suddenly hemorrhaging foreign investment and asserted that the true precursor to a Russian invasion would be a panic-driven collapse of his nation\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden White House this week abruptly backed off its claims that Putin would soon invade after persistent complaints from Kyiv. In an apparent attempt to obscure the diplomatic fiasco, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN on Wednesday that the reason for the discord was that Ukrainians simply did not know what the word \u201cimminent\u201d means. Kirby did not note that Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/Does-Zelensky-speak-Ukrainian-fluently-Does-he-have-a-Russian-accent-when-talking-in-Ukrainian\">speaks<\/a> English, or that he has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kyivpost.com\/ukraine-politics\/zelensky-wants-to-know-and-speak-ukrainian-better.html\">struggled<\/a> to learn Ukrainian. (Russian is his first language.)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWell, I think there were some issues about how that word translates in Ukraine, literally,\u201d Kirby <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/clips\/2022\/02\/02\/pentagon-spox-kirby-there-were-issues-with-how-the-word-imminent-translates-in-ukraine\/\">told<\/a> the embattled leftist network. \u201cThe bottom line is we believe that, and you\u2019ve heard Secretary [Lloyd] Austin say this last week, we believe that he, Putin, has a lot of military capability. He continues to add to his options, and he could execute any number of options pretty much on very short notice. So we\u2019re watching this seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/press-briefings\/2022\/02\/02\/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-february-2-2022\/\">told<\/a> reporters that same day that the Biden administration would simply stop using the word \u201cimminent\u201d \u2013 an apparent recognition that their assessment of the situation was wrong, delivered with no clarification or apology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used that [the word imminent] once. I think others have used that once. And then we stopped using it because I think it sent an \u2014 a message that we weren\u2019t intending to send, which was that we knew that President Putin had made a decision,\u201d Psaki said. \u201cI would say the vast majority of times I\u2019ve talked about it, we said, \u2018He could invade at any time.\u2019 That\u2019s true; we still don\u2019t know that he\u2019s made a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19743706\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-US-Embassy-building-in-Kyiv-on-January-24-2022.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19743706\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/The-US-Embassy-building-in-Kyiv-on-January-24-2022.jpg\" alt=\"The US Embassy building in Kyiv, on January 24, 2022\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The US Embassy building in Kyiv, on January 24, 2022<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Asked if the White House had definitively removed the word \u201cimminent\u201d from its vocabulary, Psaki refused to answer, instead asserting that she personally had not used the word \u201cin over a week.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Biden administration\u2019s sudden misdirection towards the word \u201cimminent\u201d disregards that the word was entirely absent from the original Biden remarks that prompted panic about the situation in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think what you\u2019re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades. And it depends on what it does. It\u2019s one thing if it\u2019s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera,\u201d Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/01\/19\/remarks-by-president-biden-in-press-conference-6\/\">told<\/a> reporters on January 19, implying that an invasion that Biden personally assesses as \u201cminor\u201d will result in no consequences for Russia. Asked directly if he intended to say that, Biden laughed. \u201cThat\u2019s how it did sound like, didn\u2019t it?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Adding to concerns, Biden said during the same press conference that he believes Putin \u201cwill move in\u201d to Ukraine because \u201che has to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s rhetoric following the press conference, which set off a flurry of panic that the Pentagon was aware of some information that the general public was not regarding an impending invasion, escalated concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis would be the largest \u2014 if he were to move in with all those forces, it\u2019d be the largest invasion since World War Two,\u201d Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/25\/joe-biden-warns-of-largest-invasion-since-world-war-ii-as-he-prepares-to-send-troops-to-europe\/\">told<\/a> reporters a week later. \u201cIt would change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Ukrainians did not use the word \u201cimminent\u201d in their complaints about Biden any more than Biden did. The Zelensky administration\u2019s primary complaint has been that the Biden White House treats a Russian invasion as a future possibility, not something that already happened almost a decade ago and that Ukrainians have been living with on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDidn\u2019t the invasion start in 2014? Has the threat of war emerged just now? These risks have existed for more than a year, and they haven\u2019t increased,\u201d Zelensky <a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ukrinform.net\/rubric-polytics\/3388270-zelensky-addresses-nation-on-russias-aggression-urges-citizens-not-to-panic.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">said<\/a>&nbsp;in a nationally televised speech shortly after Biden\u2019s \u201cminor incursion\u201d comment. \u201cWhat has increased is the hype around them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere has been no drastic change in the security levels lately, considering that the Russian threat has been persisting since 2014, and the Russian military buildup near the border began back in April 2021,\u201d Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.interfax.com.ua\/news\/general\/793450.html\">said<\/a> the following week, according to translations by the Russian news agency Interfax.<\/p>\n<p>The State Department began urging Americans to flee the country to avoid another Russian invasion after Zelensky\u2019s first speech, prompting Kyiv to complain that America and Western media were tanking the country\u2019s economy and increasing the chances of another invasion, which they did not previously think were higher than usual.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, according to all intelligence reports that coincide with those of the United States, Britain, and other partners, internal destabilization is No. 1 issue. Without internal destabilization, the Russians have nothing to do here. They bet on the issue of internal destabilization,\u201d&nbsp;National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/25\/ukraine-says-destabilization-fueled-by-biden-admin-hysteria-not-russia\/\">said<\/a> on January 24, referring to economic damage caused by panic.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky was more explicit in remarks last week, blaming the Biden panic for Ukraine losing nearly $500 million in foreign investment in less than a month, after hitting record highs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mentioned this to President Biden \u2026 we need to stabilize the economy of our country because of those signals which say that tomorrow there will be war,\u201d Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/28\/zelensky-says-ukraine-lost-almost-500-million-to-biden-war-hype-we-dont-need-this-panic\/\">said<\/a> during a lengthy press conference in Kyiv, \u201cbecause these signals were sent by even leaders of the respected countries, sometimes they are not even using diplomatic language! They are saying, \u2018Tomorrow is the war.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe image that mass media create is that we have troops on the roads, we have mobilization, people are leaving for places \u2013 that\u2019s not the case,\u201d Zelensky asserted. \u201cWe don\u2019t need this panic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president also repeated that his government does not believe that the current situation is \u201cmore intense\u201d than it was 12 months ago, when Ukraine\u2019s tensions with Russia did not dominate international headlines.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643765950098000&amp;usg=AOvVaw23AQC9DygBP6Uvx2AKooEo\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1643765950098000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1V8tY067ZdeWpATK5ZWNXI\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The White House and Pentagon made spirited attempts on Wednesday to blame ongoing tensions between America and Ukraine \u2013 triggered by repeated, panicked assertions in Washington that Russia would soon &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1270423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1270423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1270423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1270423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1270423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1270423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1270423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}